reviews

Tying Flies with CDC

By Scott Richmond

Tying Flies with CDC, subtitled The Fisherman's Miracle Feather, by Leon Links. Published in the US by Stackpole Books. 160 pages in an 8.5 x 11 inch format. All color and hardbound. $24.95. Can be ordered online from the publisher or other sources (google title).

ost Western fly tyers have never fished in Europe and are unacquainted with many standard European fly patterns. Yet European trout fishing is extraordinarily demanding. First, the notoriously fussy brown trout is the standard quarry. Second, there aren't as many fish. And last, rivers see steady pressure from anglers.

To meet these demanding conditions, European fly tyers have come up with very effective and innovative fly patterns, and CDC is a favored material.

Tying Flies with CDC collects many of these patterns in one place. The entire book is devoted to CDC-based flies. The book features over two dozen tyers, including masters from France, the UK, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Slovenia (Quick! Where's Slovenia?). Some American tyers, notably Rene Harrop, are also included.

There is a brief introduction and a photo of each tyer, then several of his patterns are presented. Occasionally there are step-by-step instructions for a fly. For the most part, flies are gathered together for a group portrait rather than photographed individually.

Tying Flies with CDC was written by Leon Links who hails from The Netherlands, and originally published in the UK by Merlin Unwin Books. Stackpole Books has the American rights.

Good News and Bad News

Fly tyers are famous for modifying existing patterns to come up with new and productive flies. Thus a book that presents new points of view and unfamiliar patterns can spur creativity at the vise. Innovative tyers will find this book to be a trove of interesting patterns and unusual ways to think about using CDC in both dry flies and wet flies.

It is also enlightening to see how CDC first came to be used and how it has been incorporated in fly patterns over the decades. Most American tyers seem to think CDC is an innovation of the 1990s, and will be surprised to hear that it has been used for over 50 years.

On the other hand, continental Europe is not the Western US. For example, most Westfly users will seldom need flies designed for grayling, nor will they encounter most of the mayfly, stonefly, and caddis species that many of these patterns imitate.

So if you're looking for specific patterns for the waters covered by Westfly, you'll have slim pickings. But, as stated earlier, there are many good ideas in this book that can be adapted to our waters and insect population. Often all it takes is some modification of size and color.

With that purpose in mind, I wish the photos in this book were better. They are neither sharp nor well reproduced. Flies are often laid flat on a background, creating shadows that obscure fine details. Step-by-step shots use a black background, but the lighting is insufficient to show enough detail. I'd love to give Jim Schollmeyer a round-trip ticket from Salem, Oregon to Europe so he could teach this book's author how to do group fly shots; nobody does it better than Jim.

Another drawback of this book is that it often calls for materials that are not available in the US. You can order them over the internet (a source list is in the back of the book), but it would be handier to have a cross-reference list of US equivalents.

On balance, I'd say that advanced, innovative tyers will appreciate Tying Flies with CDC. These tyers will like this book partly for its patterns but mostly for its ideas.

Those looking for a catalog of CDC patterns suited to Western hatches and conditions will have to look elsewhere. In fact, they can look all they want and will not be satisfied because, to my knowledge, there is no American book devoted exclusively to CDC flies, especially those designed for Western waters. Hmmmm. Sounds like a fruitful market for someone.

Bottom Line: A useful reference for the advanced fly tyer. Reviewer Rating: 3

Scott Richmond is Westfly's creator and Executive Director. He is the author of eight books on Oregon fly fishing, including Fishing Oregon's Deschutes River (second edition).

Uploaded 05/08/2003.

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